D. I. Why?

It started with a simple queery on a Sunday morning.
5 little words.



EllynAnne Geisel snapped this photo the night before demolition began

 "I wonder what's under this?"
 I could see JL's shoulders stiffen and his body slightly cringe when he heard those words. I was sitting on the floor in the kitchen picking at the awful black and white linoleum tile we had been living with for the past 7 years.
"I really think the wood floor runs underneath this", I told him. "Do I dare pry this up?"
I waited for his go ahead not at all expecting it. Then I heard those magic words..."You might as well."
With one deftly placed knife blade I pried, surprised at how easy the tile popped off. Sure enough, there they were, original wood floors. So it began...

Progression of the kitchen floor

It couldn't take that long to re-do the kitchen floors. We were hosting an event in December so there was plenty of time to get the job done. One week before Thanksgiving was our completion deadline. No problem I told myself. But really, who was I kidding?

The excitement of our floor discovery was as short lived as the ease of popping that first tile off. Soon into the demolition we encountered layers of faux brick linoleum, plaster, plywood and thousands of staples. THOUSANDS. All of which had to be pried out by hand. I swore the likes as I had never before every time a staple would break. A symphony of expletives started and ended my days.

Slowly progress was being made. As is the case with a 100+ year old house it was one step forward two steps back. And with each glitch we encountered JL would utter the most beautiful words...
We might as well.
We might as well pull all the cabinets out and reconfigure the kitchen.
We might as well redo the Butler's Pantry and put in a copper sink.
We might as well get a new kitchen sink and counters.
We might as well add a wine bar to the back hall.
"We might as well"  became music to my ears.

We might as well ...change our completion deadline. A week before Thanksgiving and I was cooking like this

I was so grateful for unsuually warm weather which made washing dishes bearable

Thanksgiving came and I prepared the holiday dinner using an electric skillet, rice steamer and crock pot. I washed dishes in my "outdoor kitchen" (A 5 gallon bucket and hose in the courtyard)
Using disposables was out of the question. "What are we, savages?" JL said when I suggested he drink coffee from a styrofoam cup.



Butler's Pantry Progression

Sure enough 3 pm on the day of our event the refridgerator was being put into place. The kitchen was done.
Is it the kitchen of my dreams? Not really. But its far better than what we started out with, the original floors are beautiful and we did it ourselves. Daddy would be proud.



The end result

 With JL's caloused hands and labor pains still vividly fresh, I think I'll wait a bit before I say

"I wonder what's under this bathroom tile?"